I was reading some other threads here and thought I'd outline why I decided to switch to fourth edition:
1. Simplified DMing. It will be so nice to not have to rewrite monsters to get them into a playable mode.
2. Reduced monster stat blocks. Tied to #1 but having simplified monster stat blocks will make running them at the table a lot easier.
3. Attacks vs. Defenses. I much prefer having attacks vs. set defense scores. It never made sense that a guy hitting with a sword got a + attack but a spellcaster had to hope the victim failed a saving throw (basically a reverse attack roll). The new way makes a lot more sense based on the "roll the die, add a modifier, match against a static number" core rule.
4. Diagonals = 1. This has been a house rule of mine for a while now and it's a lot easier to manage.
5. Threatened squares = adjacent squares. No more polearm wielding players who get 45 attacks of opportunity against anything that moves on the map.
6. Charge is easier. Can you see it? You can charge it.
7. Action points. They're like a little bit of indiana jones packed into your character.
8. Simplified yet powerful player characters. This is huge for me. I can't stand 3e clerics or wizards. The amount of paperwork and book flipping is maddening. Powers is a much more straight forward system.
9. Everyone has a little cleric in them. Healing surges is a good way to spread the most boring aspect of a single class out to each class equally. I've done this in my weekly campaign, a healer-less campaign, for weeks now using only health potions and some nifty swift-action potion ingester bracers.
10. No more iterative attacks. Nothing drove a game down than a hastened two-weapon-wielding level 16 fighter and his forty eight attacks all for different attack scores. Who wants to watch Bob do a whole lot of basic math!
There's tons more but that's a good start. I can't wait for June.
1. Simplified DMing. It will be so nice to not have to rewrite monsters to get them into a playable mode.
2. Reduced monster stat blocks. Tied to #1 but having simplified monster stat blocks will make running them at the table a lot easier.
3. Attacks vs. Defenses. I much prefer having attacks vs. set defense scores. It never made sense that a guy hitting with a sword got a + attack but a spellcaster had to hope the victim failed a saving throw (basically a reverse attack roll). The new way makes a lot more sense based on the "roll the die, add a modifier, match against a static number" core rule.
4. Diagonals = 1. This has been a house rule of mine for a while now and it's a lot easier to manage.
5. Threatened squares = adjacent squares. No more polearm wielding players who get 45 attacks of opportunity against anything that moves on the map.
6. Charge is easier. Can you see it? You can charge it.
7. Action points. They're like a little bit of indiana jones packed into your character.
8. Simplified yet powerful player characters. This is huge for me. I can't stand 3e clerics or wizards. The amount of paperwork and book flipping is maddening. Powers is a much more straight forward system.
9. Everyone has a little cleric in them. Healing surges is a good way to spread the most boring aspect of a single class out to each class equally. I've done this in my weekly campaign, a healer-less campaign, for weeks now using only health potions and some nifty swift-action potion ingester bracers.
10. No more iterative attacks. Nothing drove a game down than a hastened two-weapon-wielding level 16 fighter and his forty eight attacks all for different attack scores. Who wants to watch Bob do a whole lot of basic math!
There's tons more but that's a good start. I can't wait for June.
